The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said today he will meet Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, next week, following a recent US-brokered agreement for the pair to hold talks every fortnight."My meeting with Olmert will be next week," Mr Abbas told reporters during an Easter visit to Christian leaders in Bethlehem, giving no further details. Mr Olmert's staff had no comment.The plan for regular meetings was announced a fortnight ago by the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, during a visit to the region.Intended primarily as a mutual confidence-building plan, the get-togethers would be used to discuss practical, day-to-day issues and the wider "political horizon", rather than specific peace proposals, she said after days of frantic shuttle diplomacy.... http://www.guardian.co.uk

As important as what President Bush said yesterday on the U.S.-Mexico border is what he left out, according to those who follow the issue: He did nothing to endorse the draft immigration principles to which the White House and Senate Republicans appeared to have agreed. Mr. Bush also renewed his support for granting a path to citizenship, ending speculation that he was backing off a central piece of the Senate compromise reached last year by saying illegal aliens who meet conditions and pay fines "should be able to apply for citizenship." "He didn't cozy up to the specifics of the PowerPoint, and he was really clear we need a practical answer that's somewhere between automatic citizenship, which nobody is advocating, and mass deportation," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, which wants Congress to pass a legalization bill. "If he wanted to close doors to people getting green cards, this would have been the time to do it." ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070410-120359-6188r.htm

Talks between the Ukrainian president and prime minister, aimed at ending the country's biggest political crisis since the 2004 Orange Revolution, ended in stalemate today.The president, Viktor Yushchenko - who came to power following weeks of street protests after he lost an election rigged in favour of Viktor Yanukovich - has dissolved parliament and called elections. Mr Yanukovich, the prime minister, and his supporters are resisting the move, and have asked the constitutional court to review the president's decree. Mr Yushchenko now faces protests against his own rule, with 20,000 of Mr Yanukovich's supporters holding a rally at Independence Square in the capital, Kiev, today....http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/0,,2053800,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

The Navy will send three aircraft carriers to waters off Guam for large-scale exercises late this summer, the outgoing U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said.The Valiant Shield war games will resemble exercises held near the U.S. territory last June. Those brought together some 28 ships, 280 airplanes and 22,000 troops.Adm. Gary Roughead, announcing the exercises in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, said the Navy learned a great deal from last year's large-scale exercises and wanted to hold similar drills again to improve on some of the tactics used."It was very important I think to take that information and while everything was still fresh to say let's go ahead and do things again," Roughead said.The war games will only involve U.S. troops but will include forces from different services. The Marine Corps and Air Force participated in last year's drills....http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/10/navy.exercise.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us

Willie Gary, a Florida attorney whose personal Boeing 737 has an 18-carat gold bathroom sink, wants Motorola Inc. to pay him $11,000 an hour for his work on a lawsuit against the company. That's the least he should receive, Gary says. In court papers, he says he will ask a judge this week for twice as much, or $22,000 an hour, because Motorola violated a court order in defending the suit. At the $11,000 rate, Gary would receive $24.3 million and other plaintiffs' attorneys $12.5 million. While lawyers sometimes take in the equivalent of $11,000 an hour in contingency fees when they win a big case, the wrinkle in the Gary request is that his client didn't win. The trial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ended with a hung jury. ``This is outrageous,'' Paul Alfieri, a spokesman for Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola, said in an e-mailed statement. Motorola is the second-biggest maker of mobile phones behind Finland's Nokia Oyj. ...http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a85sK7ysG5QQ&refer=exclusive

Republican leaders yesterday sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to immediately cut short the House's two-week spring recess and finish a war-funding bill. "Our troops need this funding, and they need it soon," said the letter signed by nine top Republicans, including House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "Every day we don't fund our troops is a day their ability to fight this war is weakened," they said. Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, called the letter "overblown rhetoric" and said a spending bill will reach President Bush before money is depleted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Coming from the Republicans, who ran the 'do-nothing' Congress, this letter is a cheap political stunt," Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said. While she was in the minority party, Mrs. Pelosi frequently sent letters to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, calling for shortened congressional recesses....http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070410-120400-6936r.htm